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The British Empire

Nelson’s Pathfinders, by Michael Barritt

Nelson’s Pathfinders, by Michael Barritt

Barritt’s research is meticulous and observations are revealing.

Nelson’s Pathfinders is essential reading for Naval Historians. It is prescient that it is being published a year after the Admiralty announced it will be withdrawing paper charts and notices to mariners from 2026. For anyone unfamiliar with an Admiralty Chart it is a...

Michael Barritt

Michael Barritt

The naval historian discusses history, his influences and the books that have inspired him.

Michael Barritt, what first attracted you to naval history? My tutor at Oxford was Piers Mackesy, who was working on seminal books on the period 1793-1815, and this focussed my own interest. My subsequent career as a hydrographic specialist in the Royal Navy broadened...

Michael Barritt

Michael Barritt

Captain Michael Barritt Royal Navy is a first generation Scot who grew up near the banks of the River Clyde and acquired an early love for ships and the sea. At Glasgow Academy he was prepared for study of Modern History at Pembroke College, Oxford. His tutor there was Piers Mackesy who inspired a deep interest in the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is the author of Nelson's Pathfinders.
Michael Barritt

Books Click on any of the books covers below to either buy or get more information on Amazon Articles Click on the links below to read the full article [dpdfg_filtergrid custom_query="advanced" use_taxonomy_terms="on" multiple_taxonomies="name_of_author"...

The British Empire, by Matthew Parker

The British Empire, by Matthew Parker

The British Empire reached its territorial peak in September 1923.

On 29 September 1923, the Palestine Mandate became law and the British Empire reached what would prove to be its maximum territorial extent. It was now the largest empire in history, covering a quarter of the world’s land area and home to 460 million people. This was...

One Fine Day, by Matthew Parker

One Fine Day, by Matthew Parker

A remarkable book which is the product of many years of meticulous research.

This remarkable book is the product of many years of meticulous research and is so detailed and of such duration that its references are accessible via internet access. It is based on the notion that on 29 September 1923, the British Empire was at its most extensive,...

The Irresistible Appeal of the 1930s

The Irresistible Appeal of the 1930s

Of all the periods of our past the 1930s stands out, delivering the perfect mix of tangibility and nostalgia – sliced through with grit, like Brighton Rock.

The Irresistible Appeal of the 1930s What is it about the 1930s that we find so irresistible? What is it about this decade that provides such constant inspiration to writers and filmmakers – not to mention our imaginations? Why can’t we get enough of the 1930s? I...

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Lovers in colonial India plotted to murder their spouses with disastrous results.

The letter begins as an intimate billet-doux. ‘Oh Harry, my own precious darling, your letter today is one long yearning cry for your little love.’ But within a few lines, a more sinister story begins to emerge. ‘Yesterday, I administered the powder you left me . . ....

Renegade’s Tale: John Sayles Interview

Renegade’s Tale: John Sayles Interview

Our editor met John Sayles to discuss his recent novel, its history and Hollywood today.
Oliver Webb-Carter

John Sayles Interview I first watched Lone Star soon after it came out in 1996. This atmospheric film, centred on a small-town grappling with its past, is both a whodunnit and a social commentary. The town in question was in Texas and where three communities, White...

Why Colonialism?

Why Colonialism?

Nigel Biggar has examined Britain’s colonial past with a moral lense, and with a nuanced and balanced approach.
Nigel Biggar

Colonialism: a Moral Reckoning contains a lot of history. If it does nothing else, I hope it will inform Britons, young and old, of the whole truth about our three-hundred-year career of imperial endeavour all over the world. For it tells not only of the tragic,...

A E W Mason & The Four Feathers

A E W Mason & The Four Feathers

Alec Marsh wonders why we forget the author of a book that has been adapted six times.

It’s a safe bet to suppose that while you’ll know of The Four Feathers and its essential storyline – after all, it’s been adapted for film six times ­– you probably won’t be able to name its author. In fact you’re almost certainly more likely to know that the most...